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 Posted: Wed Jul 19, 2023 8:51 pm
The mood had shifted since finding Lucien’s message. While they were still determined to figure out a way up to the island in the sky, they were more somber as they sifted through the equipment and documents that had been hidden away in Lucien’s tiny office in the underground jail cell.
With both Michael and Devyn working together, especially when it came to translating the text that Michael had yet to learn how to read, but now definitely wanted to, they were able to piece together what seemed to be a working platform in a small clearing in the center of the village.
There was a lot of trying to dig through memories as well. Michael often closed his eyes as he was piecing the equipment together, as though trying to use muscle memory for what Percy would have been thinking when building it. Of course, a lot had been adjusted by Marius and Lucien, and while Michael was relatively confident that they followed the plans, there was always the chance of things going wrong.
Which was what seemed to happen with Lucien. However, that was also when Chaos was taking over, and they’d already lost contact with the outside worlds. Now they had the advantage of Alastor working with them.
In fact, there were times where Michael turned away to pick up a tool, and an old piece of the wiring or gears suddenly seemed like they were in much better condition. Some pieces seemed to magically appear as well.
Michael wasn’t complaining about the help, and he hoped it was a good omen, but he was still cautious.
“I think all that’s left is to try turning it on,” Michael said with a frown and arms crossed over his chest. There was enough room for both of them to stand, and even if they got stuck up there, they could always just go back to Earth.
“The air will probably be thinner. I found these. I think they were used to help with breathing,” he said and pulled out a couple of small devices that looked like rebreather mouth pieces. From his understanding, it was just supposed to help them cycle more oxygen into their system when needed, but… that was the extent of what his memories showed him.
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Posted: Wed Jul 19, 2023 9:04 pm
Though Devyn had more than adequate recollection of the blueprint Percy had perfected, some of the changes Lucien had made didn’t always seem to make sense to him. Alastor was not known for its high-tech, but Devyn had always been invested in learning more and tinkering, and having a genius husband meant that if he ever wanted a lecture or detailed lesson on anything, he was more than taken care of.
He’d spent years trying to fix the path that connected Alastor to Sessrumnir, to no avail, so it seemed to be within reason that he should be cautious with replicating Lucien’s project as well.
Devyn had noticed the oddities with their attempt to reconstruct and repair the platform; it hadn’t been difficult to find the pieces once he knew what they were looking for. Reassembling them wasn’t easy but it was more time consuming than difficult.
When it was finished–or, when they thought it was–he was still regarding it with caution.
He’d been examining the platform when Michael spoke, and it seemed to snap him out of his thoughts. “Oh. Right, thank you.”
Running his thumb over the smooth surface brought him no comfort, but he held it in his hand and tried to pull himself out of his thoughts. They still had many hours left in the day, and the weather had stayed clear.
The canopy of trees that covered Villefort was thinnest here, and he couldn’t see any reason to suspect that they’d have trouble. The technology–what he understood of it–was straightforward and familiar.
“Do you want to turn it on? I need to make sure it’s calibrating correctly.”
A handheld device that looked like a fancy calculator had been packed away in the set, though the battery seemed to have long since died. It had taken a bit of digging to find the information about what it was, but afterwards Devyn recognized the technology enough that he’d been able to take off the back and replace the battery. From what he’d gathered about it from the files, it was tracking the specific coordinates of somewhere on the island. He’d kept an eye on it while they repaired the platform and it changed slowly but certainly, and eventually the numbers became predictable enough that he was confident it was working effectively and not just misfiring.
He was excited–of course he would be, he’d been dreaming of this since he was a child–but there was no shortage of dread now.
He didn’t think he wanted to find Lucien up there. He wanted to think that he got offworld like he’d planned. He wanted to think that he’d lived a long and happy life somewhere else.
There was no way of knowing unless they went up, though, so there was still only one option.
“I’ll get the coordinates and make sure they’re syncing up with the programming here. I want to make sure it doesn’t think it should send us into empty space. But if it does, I’ll catch you. Worst case scenario, we’ll head back to Destiny City, yeah? Not that we’ll get separated, but if we do, we’ll meet at home, all right?”
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Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2023 8:36 pm
When Devyn seemed to snap out of his thoughts, Michael paused to watch him for a few moments before nodding in agreement about turning the platform on. There were just a couple knobs and switches he had to click, according to the modified blueprints. He didn’t know if he should feel comforted or uneasy about how similar the set up was like a helicopter, although with its obvious differences.
Maybe he was just tired, or maybe the memories that were being shared with him had started playing with his thoughts more.
It didn’t matter, because they were so close to seeing if the platform worked, for one. And if it did, they would be one step closer to potentially reaching the island.
Michael stood before responding to Devyn. He stepped forward and lifted his hands to place his palms on each side of Devyn’s face so he could hold him in place for a kiss.
“We’ll be okay. And we’ll meet back home,” Michael promised when he pulled back to speak. He smoothed Devyn’s hair back, and lowered his hands from his face to his shoulders.
Everything seemed to match the blueprint, and everything seemed like it made sense once Devyn translated the text. If the calibrations came back with good results, and they had the coordinates, then everything should be fine.
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Posted: Fri Jul 21, 2023 7:15 am
Devyn stayed put while Michael held his face, and though he didn’t say it, he appreciated the comforting gesture. He breathed a little easier afterwards, like it was just the perfect pause he needed to collect himself.
“If we get separated,” Devyn huffed. He wasn’t planning on letting go of Michae’s hand unless he had to.
He wasn’t sure if he was confident or not; there were too many uncertainties, and while none of this felt like a guessing game, he didn’t have the same faith in himself that he would have had with Lucien. But, he had faith in Percy, and he had faith in Michael.
This felt right.
He offered a half smile to Michael just as the device in his hand chirped to indicate a final reading. He fed the numbers to Michael, repeated them for a double check, and waited for confirmation that the settings had been adjusted to match.
It hadn’t taken Michael much work to do so, the whole layout of this was very easy to use. He pocketed the device, just in case. He took Michael’s hand and led him to the center of the platform.
It hummed softly, like it was building energy.
Devyn turned, just enough to face Michael. He squeezed his hand. “I love you. Thank you for doing this with me.”
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Posted: Fri Jul 21, 2023 11:40 am
Michael smiled as he took hold of Devyn’s hand and squeezed it in return. He didn’t know if he should be confident, either. This was magic and space mechanics. Not anything he’d learned, but something his fingers still seemed to know. He didn’t know why, but he felt as though he could trust his instincts with this. Along with the blueprints and design laid out by very intelligent people.
“I love you, too,” he said softly, just above the hum of the machine. “Anything you can think of. Anywhere you’d like to go. I’ll stay by your side,” Michael promised.
They wouldn’t get separated. Michael had to believe that. And it had been so long since he’d felt optimistic about things, but there was something about Devyn that made him think the best.
He just hoped Devyn wouldn’t be let down by whatever they found. After centuries of imagining what it would be like, Devyn was either going to be in awe of everything they found, or disappointed. Hopefully it would be the former.
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